New Delhi, Mar 16 (ANI): Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday announced full exemption from basic customs duty and a concessional CVD of one per cent to Steam coal for a period of two years till March 31, 2014.

While presenting the Union Budget 2012-13 in Lok Sabha, Mukherjee also proposed full exemption from basic duty to Natural Gas and Liquified Natural Gas and Uranium concentrate, Sintered Uranium Dioxide in natural and pellet form.

Full exemption from import duty on specified equipment imported for road construction by contractors of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NHAI and State Governments is being extended to contracts awarded by Metropolitan Development Authorities.

Tunnel boring machines and parts for their assembly are covered by this exemption. Mukherjee also proposed to allow their import free of duty without end-use condition.

Meanwhile, carrying forward the initiatives taken for agriculture and agro-processing sectors, Mukherjee proposed to reduce basic customs duty from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent on sugarcane planter, root or tuber crop harvesting machine and rotary tiller and weeder and parts for the manufacture of these.

He also announced to reduce basic customs duty from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent on specified coffee plantation and processing machinery.

" The basic customs duty was also reduced on some water soluble fertilizers and liquid fertilizers, other than urea, from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent and from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent," he added.

Giving substantial relief to the fertilizer sector, Mukherjee announced that imports of equipment for initial setting-up or substantial expansion of fertilizer projects are being fully exempted from basic customs duty of five per cent for a period of three years up to March 31, 2015. (ANI)